Buy Books Locally

One day. Fifty states. 1,600+ bookstores.

Yes, we’re talking about Independent Bookstore Day, which this year is celebrated April 26.Here are 4 reasons why it makes sense (and cents) to support independent bookstores, according to IndieBound.

1. Spend $100 at a local business and $67 of that stays in your community;
2. Shopping locally means less packaging and less transportation;
3. Local retailers are your neighbors and friends;
4. Local businesses donate to local charities at more than twice the rate of national chains.

And shop at an independent bookstore on April 26 and you’ll find special events, sales and other festivities. Nearly 20 bookstores in Northeast Ohio are participating in the celebration, including:

• MindFair Books in the Ben Franklin in Oberlin that sells new and used books;
• Loganberry Books in Shaker Heights that is featuring a full lineup of local author signings;
• Mac’s Backs in Cleveland Heights that is offering 10% off all books and book signing with former Oberlin College professor Dan Chaon at 2 p.m.
• Shelf Life in Cuyahoga Falls offering several discounts and giveaways.

And all participating bookstores are part of the “Northeast Ohio Indie Bookstore Crawl.” Pick up a “passport” on April 26, visit at least 10 stores by May 31 and the last store will give you 20% off your entire purchase.

Throughout the year IndieBound releases a monthly The Indie Next List which highlights books recommended by independent booksellers. The #1 pick for April is “Tilt,” a novel by Emma Pattee that is set over the course of a day in Portland, Oregon when an earthquake hits.

Speaking of Books

The New York Times recently released its list of two dozen books to read this spring. Along with “Tilt” here are 5 others:

1. “The Jackal’s Mistress” by Chris Bohjalian;
2. “My Name Is Emilia del Valle” by Isabel Allende;
3. “Dream Count” by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie;
4. “Rabbit Moon” by Jennifer Haigh;
5. “My Documents” by Kevin Nguyen

Publishers Weekly released a list of anticipated memoirs and biographies released this spring. Titles include:

• "Bibliophobia: A Memoir” by literary critic Sarah Chihaya, who “reflects on the books that carried her through her adolescence as a Japanese American girl in the white Ohio suburbs;”
• “JFK: Public, Private, Secret” by J. Randy Taraborrelli, who also wrote a biography of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis;
• “Cleavage: Men, Women and the Space Between Us,” by Jennifer Finney Boylan, who reflects on life as a transgender adult;
• “The Spinach King: The Rise and Fall of an American Dynasty” by New Yorker writer John Seabrook, who examines his family’s crime-ridden legacy as agricultural giants in New Jersey;
• “Young Man in a Hurry: A Memoir of Discovery” by California Gov. Gavin Newsom.

A final word from readers…

 Goodreads, a popular site for readers to share their thoughts on books and connect with other readers, put together a list of 100 years of popular books (1925-2024) based on Goodreads reader lists.

In case you overlooked these books or want to revisit, here are suggestions from each decade.

• “Death Comes for the Archbishop” (1927) by Willa Cather;
• “Rebecca” (1938) by Daphne Du Maurier;
• “The Member of the Wedding” (1946) by Carson McCullers’
• “The Catcher in the Rye” (1951) by J.D. Salinger;
• “The Bell Jar” (1963) Sylvia Plath;
• “If Beale Street Could Talk” (1974) James Baldwin;
• “Beloved” (1987) by Toni Morrison;
• “Into Thin Air” (1997) by Jon Krakauer;
• “The Road” (2006) by Cormac McCarthy;
• “Station Eleven” (2014) by Emily St. John Mandel;
• “James” (2024) by Percival Everett